Two liters of sweetened beverages per week was associated with a high risk of atrial fibrillation

Chinese researchers conducted a prospective cohort study and concluded that drinking more than two liters of sugary or artificially sweetened beverages per week was associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (atrial fibrillation). The publication appeared in the journal Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. In their work, Ningjian Wang (Ningjian Wang) from Shanghai Transport University and colleagues from various research centers in China used data from the UK Biobank repository of nearly 202,000 UK residents who did not have atrial fibrillation at the start of follow-up and for whom data on diet and genetic predisposition were available. The median follow-up period for each participant was 9.9 years.

During the follow-up period, 9362 cases of atrial fibrillation were recorded. Those who consumed more than two liters of sugary or synthetic sweeteners had a significantly increased risk ratio (HR) of 1.10 (95 percent confidence interval 1.01-1.20) and 1.20 (95 percent confidence interval 1.10-1.31), respectively, compared with those who preferred unsweetened beverages. At high risk of genetic predisposition, these rates increased to 3.33 (95 percent confidence interval 2.80-3.97) and 3.51 (95 percent confidence interval 2.94-4.19). Meanwhile, drinking less than a liter of pure fruit juice per week was associated with a lower risk HR of 0.92 (95 percent confidence interval 0.87-0.97) and, when combined with a low risk of genetic predisposition, a HR of 0.77 (95 percent confidence interval 0.65-0.92).